4 Oct 2016

Coutinho vs. David Silva: Who's the better player? According to Liverpool fans, there's absolutely no contest.

When asked last week to name the 'most dangerous player in the Premier League', Jurgen Klopp told Sky Sports:

"I like David Silva. He is a wonderful player. He’s everywhere and so skilled and he has such a good attitude. I like his style of play".

Coutinho is clearly the most comparable Liverpool player, so I conducted a poll asking fans who they'd rather have in the team. Unsurprisingly, the results were emphatic, with 76% of participating fans claiming that Coutinho is a better player than Silva.

I chose Silva, as he was the consistent creative force behind Man City's two league titles under Manuel Pellegrini.

This season, however, Coutinho appears to be the more effective player (when it comes to specific, measurable impact):

* Coutinho: 7 goals/assists in 8 games (One every 78 mins)

* Silva: 3 goals/assists in 8 games (One every 231 mins)

One area in which Coutinho clearly exceeds Silva is his ability to score absolutely spectacular goals, and over the last couple of season, the Brazilian has cornered the market on dazzling long-range efforts.